RED PLANET LANCERS: Book Four of the EPSILON SciFi Thriller Series (EPSILON Sci-Fi Thriller 4) by Brian H. Roberts

Author:Brian H. Roberts [Roberts, Brian H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Brian H. Roberts
Published: 2024-02-26T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 50

Sol 609

Ep City, Hellas Planitia, Mars

Genady strained to see the far side of the crater that served as the “hub” for Ep City’s halls. To his left, the access road spiraled up the crater wall slope, disappearing into the butterscotch-colored murk about halfway up. Well, weather is improvement over last time I was out. I can see halfway across crater floor.

He trudged up the access road to the crater rim, stopping to catch his breath at the top. The pall emanating from the northwest tunnel excavation trench was just as dense. Turning left, he followed the rim counterclockwise, hoping the prevailing northwest wind would keep the plume away from the northeast half of the crater.

The cloud thinned just as he reached the southeast quadrant of the rim. He paused to look into the pale sun, hung high in the northern sky. After walking another thirty meters, he was above the airlock to the northeast hall he had just exited. He looked northwest down the length of the excavation, the near lip clearly visible. The dust rolled down the length of the trench, roiled by the breeze.

He passed the airlock to the north hall, where the machine shop was stored in one side chamber, the microchip printer and storage for the construction 3D printer in the other. The buried chambers were huge, ten meters wide and a hundred long, dwarfing the six-meter-wide halls. The arch cross section and rounded ends were specifically designed to retain internal air pressure and resist the exterior soil pressure.

Reaching the trench, Genady turned northwest and walked down its length. The hydrogen fuel cell-powered excavation equipment ran silent, as did the ore haulers they loaded, but he could make out the thump and rumble of excavated regolith being dumped into the twenty cubic meter-capacity dump beds.

Dave stood above the activity near the far end of the excavation. “Hi boss. What brings you out on a warm summer’s day?” The air temperature was in fact fifty degrees Fahrenheit—balmy compared to winter’s forty-below highs.

“Just wanted to check up on progress.”

“My video updates not clear enough?” the geologist asked.

“You got me,” the commander confessed. “I just wanted walk. I get bored on treadmill.” After a pause, he added, “Trench is almost twice as long as original design. I’m worried will delay our prep for Song’s arrival.”

“I kind of figured as much. You seemed preoccupied at breakfast this morning,” Dave replied. “We’re right on target based on the revised schedule. We should encounter the outside edge of the lava flow anytime, now.”

As if on cue, the grating screech of metal bucket teeth scraping against rock penetrated Genady’s helmet.

The geologist continued, “Good, we’re thirty meters away from the lava tube. We’ll spend the next day tunneling, and we should break into the cave.”

“What about stockpiles for printing tunnel?” the commander asked.

“We’ve got plenty of sulfur on hand for the molten sulfur cement.” He pointed across the trench to a yellow stockpile protruding above the dust cloud. “We’ll only have to print up to the edge of the rock tunnel.

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